Witnesses back People writer's account of Trump sex assault

WASHINGTON (AP) — People Magazine reported Tuesday that a
half-dozen people have come forward to corroborate its writer's
account of being sexually assaulted by Donald Trump and its
aftermath.

Natasha Stoynoff, a former staff writer at the celebrity
magazine, wrote last week that Trump grabbed her, pinned her
against a wall and forcibly kissed her in a room at his
Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida in 2005. She was on assignment to
write a profile of the billionaire businessman and his
then-pregnant wife, who Stoynoff said was upstairs when it
happened.

The Republican presidential nominee has denied the accusation,
saying Stoynoff fabricated the incident. He also suggested
Stoynoff, 51, is not physically attractive enough to merit his
attention.

"She lies! Look at her, I don't think so," Trump, 70, said at a
campaign rally last week.

Stoynoff is one of about a dozen women who have recently accused
Trump of such misconduct as groping, unexpected kisses on the
mouth and unwanted sexual advances.

Though Stoynoff says she and Trump were alone when he accosted
her, the magazine's latest story quotes five friends and former
co-workers who say the writer told them about the incident
shortly after it happened.

In Stoynoff's first-person account, she also wrote of a chance
meeting and brief conversation with Melania Trump along New
York's Fifth Avenue weeks later. She said Trump's third wife was
by then carrying the couple's infant son, Barron, in her arms
while outside Trump Tower. She said Melania called her by her
first name and gave her a hug.

But Melania Trump said in an interview with CNN broadcast Monday
that the conversation never happened.

"I was never friends with her, I would not recognize her," the
candidate's wife said of Stoynoff.

However, a sixth person quoted in People's story on Tuesday, Liza
Herz, said she was with Stoynoff and remembers the moment well.

"They chatted in a friendly way," Herz is quoted as saying. "And
what struck me most was that Melania was carrying a child and
wearing heels."

Stoynoff's longtime friend Marina Grasic told People she got a
call from the reporter the day after the alleged attack. Grasic
said Stoynoff detailed everything, from Trump pushing her against
a wall to the mogul later showing up at her massage appointment.

"Beyond just the attack, she was horrified by the vulgar
circumstances under which she was attacked and propositioned to
have an affair," Grasic recounted. "She was there in a
professional capacity, writing an article about their happy
marriage, and after the incident Trump acted like nothing
happened."

Paul McLaughlin, Stoynoff's former journalism professor, told the
magazine she called him in tears looking for advice on the night
of the alleged encounter. He cautioned her to remain quiet in
fear of how Trump might retaliate to destroy her career and
reputation.

"I advised her not to say anything, because I believed Trump
would deny it and try to destroy her," McLaughlin told People.

The former People co-workers quoted to bolster Stoynoff's account
were East Coast Editor Liz McNeil, Deputy East Coast News Editor
Mary Green and former staff writer Liza Hamm. All said Stoynoff
confided in them years ago about the incident.